At WEFTEC 2011 there was a meeting of the residuals and biosolids committee.  One topic of discussion was the new Sewage Sludge Incineration (SSI) regulations that are pending at EPA. WEF and the National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA) have been communicating with EPA to reconsider use of the proposed Most Achievable Control Technology (MACT) based air emissions standards. The proposed SSI regulations would move sludge incinerators out from the 503 regulations and apply technology based standards. NACWA says if implemented, the SSI regulations would impose the most stringent regulations in the world.  For some parameters the new regulations would be 100 times more stringent than current standards. Depending on how “Sludge Incineration” is defined, the proposed MACT Standards could also apply to sludge that is burned as fuel and gasification facilities.  Chris Hornbeck, NACWA, noted that the proposed SSI regulation is based on inappropriate assumptions and a utility will have to spend $60,000 to $100,000 to determine if their SSI can meet the proposed standards.  There are currently 3 lawsuits filed against EPA associated with the proposed rule.